trollthumper

"A new home..." The dryad fell quiet, as if frozen in wistful contemplation. Soon, she roused, smiling wide. "Yes! Yes, that sounds good." "You know," said the crone, "if you give her one, everyone's going to want one." As if to back up the crone's word, the other wandering dryads in the copse converged on Rosewood's point, listening intently. "Methinks you may have some work ahead of you..." "And of course," said the younger dryad, "you'll be able to ensure the homes stay up, right? And that no one else is driven away?" --- "And I don't suppose you can quantify the degree of weird?" asked Temperance. "Well, what scale are we using?" asked Jack. "One being 'I think I saw a ghost' and 10 being 'that time the sky bled red and the Terminus invaded'?" "...I suppose that's an adequate scale." "Let's say 3. But still. A man is dead, and while it's not exactly my department, I want to make sure he's the last one." Suitably chastened, Temperance turned inward. She knew she tended to adopt the cold affect - it went well with the powers - but perhaps she'd gotten a little too hard-edged lately. "I understand that urge fully," she said. "I have some affairs to tend to tonight, but I'll set out for Barnegat tomorrow. Where should we meet?" Jack handed Temperance a piece of paper. "Here's the address for the Ranger Station. I'll expect you around 10 AM. If that's not too early." Temperance cracked a smile. "Not too early at all. Though I'd be happy to have some coffee. If just to keep the chill out..."

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GM "Interesting..." said the old growth spirit. "One would think they'd give the whole package to their Champion. Perhaps there was a rush job on..." The younger dryad raised a hand to the old growth spirit, trying to get her to keep quiet. Under ordinary circumstances, that likely would have failed, but in this case, the aged tree knew when to pipe down. "I did have a home," she said. "But then the men came. With stabbing steel and whirring saws and great chains..." "Ha!" said the old tree. "You must be new. They do that, you know. Surely you must have somewhere you can --" The dryad stared daggers at her elder. "I know what men do to the homes of our kind. But they have not done it here in a long time. And... I've heard tales from my brothers and sisters about what to do when that happens. How to seek shelter until the new season of birth. But none of the other trees will let me in. They say that they cannot take someone so new. That they are... busy. And they're already doing too much to spare any charity."

Getting this out of the way: Notice checks now. When we eventually go on patrol, results shall be posted. Cannonade rolls a 12.

Joe made the rounds alongside Asli. "Good to see you again," he said to Shrike, taking care to observe the decorum of names, code names, and so forth. "I liked the whole Thanksgiving get together. We should try that again. I mean, I don't wanna impose, but, whatever works best for you guys." He soon drifted over towards the rest of the Liberty League. "I'm glad we could make it out, too. And Alex, uh, I'll try to keep the noise down." He tapped at his forehead with a knowing wink. "Then again, some people would say this is a bit quiet by default, but screw 'em." He turned to Corbin. "As for, uh, absent friends... those two don't really get as much time to themselves as they deserve. Let 'em stay in and not worry about anything. Best Christmas present we could probably give 'em."

Cannonade nodded to Crow as he shouted from the darkness. "Hey, Crow," he said. "Long time no see. How've you been?" Soon after, the others either touched down, strode up, or loomed out of the darkness. Gabriel he certainly recognized, and he'd heard a few things about the Woodsman, but the new guy... "the She"? That can't be right. Maybe it means something in some kinda language I don't know. Or maybe it's an occult thing. Not the time or place. "So... taking your word for it, Gabriel. Fairy stuff." Cannonade hadn't had many encounters with the fae, but the ones that stood out - the Nazi leprechauns, the Victorian cosplayers who'd stolen away several workers to do the hard part of the Industrial Revolution for them - were certainly something. He wouldn't be surprised to learn that they'd decided to let their dogs off the leash - but why? "All right. I'm not gonna pretend I'm the expert on this kind of matter. But we've got a lot of ground to cover, and odds are wherever these guys come from isn't always going to be here. Or is hidden, or... however they do it. So. How do we want to split this up?"

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"The Ocean Without grew still," said Kee'lee, "for three days and three nights. The Great Mother spent that time in the stillness amongst her compatriots, imploring to Dagon and Hydra for some sign, some sense of purpose. Then, with a roar like the eruption of a volcano, the skies split. Their vessels, cracked and broken, fell from the Ocean Without to the firmament. The stars and the Ocean Without were barred to them, save for the shallows. But it was no punishment - it was a sign. To establish a new clutch for the time when the stars come right, so that Dagon and Hydra may hear the song and bring wisdom to another atoll in the Ocean Without. She guided her children, teaching them the ways of the law and the bounties of the new Ocean Within. And in time, she took to the Ocean Within herself, so that she might join the great choir and bring Dagon and Hydra's love upon this world." Cavalier looked to Velak. "That is an interesting story," he said. "Thoughts?" "She's right," said Velak. "Not making any declarative statements on the theology, but the practical details are right. You were in orbit for 72 hours when the waveform collapsed. The ships were disabled in all aspects - engines, life support, and so on. With limited oxygen and disabled tech, you decided to land on the planet. Once you got comms and astral navigation back online, you realized you'd traveled 300 years back in time. In some cases, like your armor, there was such a disparity between extent tech levels that reintegration was... hold on..." Velak drew up a file in his datapad. "'...like trying to post on Twitter via telegraph.' I'm sure that made sense to you..." "We couldn't make contact? At all?" "The Lor hadn't expanded into this sector of space back then, the Star Knights hadn't incorporated quantum entanglement-based means of communications by that point... there were attempts to set up a relay, but nobody was answering. There were a few attempts to launch satellites, but they got caught on the edge of the anomaly." The group arrived at the edge of the city. In addition to the obvious Lor influence on the architecture, there was something of a communications infrastructure - not quite on the level of cell phone towers, but a very solid pay phone network. There was a small bazaar set up in the middle of a larger market, as well as what looked like a few guildhalls. There were few people still left on the streets - mainly essential workers, Cavalier surmised - but everywhere the group passed, they couldn't help but draw attention. "See you - we - whomever... managed to make a lot more than satellites. I mean, the satellites are impressive, but... this is one hell of a place." "This is the largest of our settlements. In addition to the Great Mother's congregation, there are the agricultural communities, the timber lands, the hydroelectric plants... I mean, the Korata had a lot, but you need to incorporate new infrastructure to expand." "Surprised you're not over half the planet, at this rate." Velak grimaced a little at that. "We find we work best when close knit..." He perked up swiftly, reaching his earlier candor. "We should take you to the Great Hall. Give you a chance to see the historical records, get a full understanding of how the city rose..."

The spirit turned to Lilly. It looked like the classical dryad of lore, a nimble woman of fresh shoots and green leaves - which made her look quite out of place, standing barefoot in several inches of snow. The dryad said something in a tongue of wind through branches and falling leaves, something that Lilly could not understand. The spirit stared at her in silence - then, slowly, took on that strange sheen that Lilly had associated with materialization. "You see but do not speak?" asked the tree. "What sort of worker are you?" "Never mind her." A head extended from a nearby pine tree, with a face like a grandmother and a voice to match. "She's new to the area. New in general, it seems. The youth of spring come early, I'd imagine. Far too early." "It's not my fault I could not rest!" shot back the younger tree. "If you could just let me in --" "I'm sorry, dear, this tree only has room for one, both physically and metaphysically. What happened to you is rotten apples, but it's nothing I can affect..." --- "No criminal history for the deceased?" asked Temperance. "I'm, uh, not exactly the person who'd have access to that," said Jack. "But the Sheriff's office says he's clean, for the most part. Few drunk and disorderlies after a night of drinking at the local bar, but you're not looking at the criminal mastermind of the Pine Barrens." "No. I imagine that's someone else. On the logging matter..." "We don't know who's behind it. We started finding trees cut down a few months back - old growth, the kind that would fetch a pretty penny with the proper buyers. We haven't been able to find any trace of the leadership, though. Sheriff's office has been lending us what aid he can, but..." "It's not a high priority matter?" "There's a lot hinkier stuff that happens out there, both human and..." Jack paused, as if thinking he might be saying something foolish. "Look. Wharton's been my beat for years. You hear the stories, and every so often, you think you see something out of the corner of your eye. I think I know when something's strange, and when something's weird. And trust me. This one is weird."

Cannonade, The Sidhe, Woodsman, Gabriel, and Crow all investigate rumors of feral dogs in Liberty Park.

Liberty Park Sunday, December 11, 2016 9:23 PM Somedays, Cannonade wondered what it had to be like to work in Animal Control in this town. It had been one of the weirdest "track downs" he'd ever had. Sometimes, on patrol, he'd run into a cop who wanted to flag him down over something weird, usually related to the Crusaders. Other times, Commander Grayston of AEGIS might track him down, wanting to send him off to God knows where to handle some new interesting wrinkle in geopolitics. This time, however, he'd touched down in the Fens to get some coffee at the Dunkin Donuts, only to be flagged down by a woman with blue hair and the uniform of an Animal Control officer. "It was a jogger," she'd said. "She'd been running through the park, said she was passing by Poet's Grove when they appeared. Dogs. Three of them, black as night. One of them did a real number on her arm, but she was carrying pepper spray and managed to drive them off." "And if you're talking to me, I'm guessing they can't actually be dogs." "Given this town, they could be, but... we checked where she was attacked. No sign of spoor, paw prints, droppings, anything. And her description... it may have been dark and she may have been scared, but they didn't resemble any dog we know. Maybe Mastiffs, at an outside stretch, but... Mastiffs aren't usually that dark in coloration. And then there was the other thing..." "What other thing?" "She said they came running out from behind a hedge. But that part of Poet's Grove is completely clear cut." And so, Cannonade ventured off into a dark stretch of an already dark park, feeling the shadows loom. The air felt crisp and cool, and he could smell pine on the air. No dog, though, wet or otherwise. But he had a feeling that, given this town, that wasn't going to hold for long.

Cavalier looked to Roulette and Ruby. "Is she... going to be okay?" He then looked to Velak and Javeen. "And do you have any idea what's going on here?" Velak shook his head. "It's a long story, and --" "We no longer have time for long stories," Javeen said. "All you need to know is that, if she fears interbreeding, that's not what happened --" "I think we need to know a hell of a lot more than that!" "Yes, but I want her to know --" "And you really think she's going to trust anything that comes out of your mouth now?" Javeen shot daggers at him, then shook her head. "Bliss did not want to take part in the genetic diversity program, due to her religious objections. She held fast to it most of her life. But... she did leave some information in her last years. Two generations after her death, a genetic disease from the old days of Lor-Van began showing up in the blood. We might have been able to treat it with the home world's resources, but... the Korata, for all its resources, did not have everything." "What level are we talking here?" "Fatal. Axon degeneration within 2 years of life. Death by age 5, in most cases. Bliss's code carried a gene that would counter production of the lipids that resulted in nerve degeneration; however, given the intricacies of Xuli'Ha genetics and its autosomal dominant nature, it resulted in other Xuli'Ha traits entering the population." Kee'lee approached the group. "The Great Mother asks that you see the city," she said. "So that you may understand all that came of the crash, and led to this." Cavalier nodded. "I feel like she would listen to the Great Mother on this one."

Temperance and Rosethorn deal with illegal logging and a spiritual emergency in Wharton.

Claremont Academy Friday, December 9 3:42 PM The trees were busy. Lilly was still coming into her connection to the ephemeral to a certain degree. She had the basics down and knew her oak from her holly, but she was still trying to understand so much about spirits. Their language, their politics, their intricacies... it was a lot to take in. But she at least felt she knew something. Like how some tree spirits should be dormant in the winter. But here they were - the oak, the cedar - gathering on the grounds of Claremont and associating with their brethren. And they seemed to be knocking on the trunks of the sleeping trees, trying to get in. --- Lincoln Friday, December 9 6:32 PM It was already dark, but winter did that. It just meant more time to patrol. Unfortunately, while the cold never quite bothered her, nights of balancing crime fighting and finals prep did, which was why Temperance was feeling a bit reluctant to take to the sky this evening. After about 15 minutes on the ice sledge, she realized she'd need something hot and caffeinated if she wanted to avoid the world's most embarrassing - if unique - collision. She set the sledge down outside of a 7-Eleven, somehow managing to find a parking space that had not been claimed by a lawn chair in preparation of the oncoming snow. "Excuse me." Temperance turned to find a man in a green Eisenhower jacket and Smokey hat lurking in the corner. "They say you're the water girl around her," he said. "Well, one of them. They didn't exactly have contact info, but the police said I might be able to find you around here." "I'm one of the ones who deal with water, yes. But if the police sent you to me, I imagine it's a bit... stranger than that." The man extended his hand. "Jack Perkins, National Parks Service," he said. He reached into his jacket, pulling out a folder and handing it to Temperance. "We had a... recent incident, and was wondering you might be able to bring your particular insight to it." Temperance flipped open the folder, only to be hit with a crime scene. An SUV, covered in mud and wet leaves, lay on the edge of a snow-covered shore, a tow cable hitched to the back. The next photo showed the interior of the car, and the body sitting in the front seat. The man was dressed in winter woodsman gear, complete with watchman's cap, and had that particular coloration one might associate with a drowned man. Hell of a way to start the evening. Still, Temperance had to maintain her composure to sell the mystique. She looked to Jack. "These photos are telling me a story, and I'm guessing it's not the obvious one." "The deceased is Thomas Laurent. 29, former lineman working out of Barnegat. We found a chainsaw and pitons in his car - logging equipment. He was in the middle of Wharton." Wharton. A picture was starting to come together in her mind. She knew it was the wrong one, but she didn't know just what she was looking for yet. "So, the theory is, he was engaged in illegal logging, drove out into a snowy glade, parked on a frozen lake, and went through the ice. But I'm guessing there's something wrong with that picture..." Jack nodded. "The car was in park when it was extracted from the lake. But there were tire treads running 200 feet from the shore. And, according to our forensics guys, the tires were not running when the car make its trip. It's as if... something pushed it into the lake." Temperance studied the photos again. She thought she might be seeing things, but the front bumper looked a little loose. "Or dragged it."

It had taken a bit longer than she had expected. There was the matter of getting the freezers ready, making sure the content was more snow than ice... oh, and actually getting everything in position. Even with the ArcheTech staff aiding her, it had taken some time. She just wanted to make sure everything was right for the display - and the cleanup. She could easily take care of the melt, but the last thing she wanted was for her little show of powers to ruin the canapés. Or the carpet. Or anyone's gown. Or... Very well. Time to make an entrance. Eliza went over the railing, her ice sledge swiftly forming beneath her feet. She was dressed in more formal wear, but in sensible flats - she didn't dare try to ride the sledge in heels. As she did, snow fell around her in a shimmering curtain. Not a blizzard, but a flurry. The sledge touched ground and broke into further snow, joining its brethren of flakes above. The snow stayed swirling, not melting and not touching the ground. "Sorry that took so long," she said, kissing Sharl on the cheek. "Just wanted to make sure the decor worked." She turned to the others. "I'm Temperance. Pleasure to meet you. Seems I'm always a bit... well, focused whenever I come to Emerald City." She gave a warm smile towards Sharl. "It's always good to meet others in our circle."

Joe emerged from the other side, adjusting his tuxedo. "Yeah, shame about all the bookings," he said. "My cousin thought he could squeeze in a free ride, but then this bachelor party's ride blew two flat tires, one of them had his contact number..." He shrugged. "Can't blame the guy for making some extra cash at the holidays. Mind you, it means he probably need a big present from me..." He shrugged his shoulders in his jacket. The tux had actually been a purchase, as he'd managed to pick it up relatively cheap before Trevor and Erin's wedding. While he'd gone to holiday parties like this in his usual "dapper skin" duds, he felt the need to put on a special showing tonight. He was the veteran hero. He was an upstanding member of the Liberty League. And he was in love with a magnificent woman who was putting on one hell of a display, so he felt he should rise to the occasion. He was still wearing his Docs, though. There were some things you just had to do. Joe offered Asli his arms and led her up the stairs into the hall. "Here's to a great evening, and one hell of a show."

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Yeah. Highly doubted this was going to be a "normal" operation. Cannonade raised his hands. "It's all right," he said. "Mind you, left my checkbook in my other costume, but I can spot you for the first payment on the window. And, assuming you haven't moved the shop to a new casing by the time I come back, I can spot you the rest on a check." He looked around. "Then again... there's a lot more valuable things you could lose. Lots of machine parts here, after all. Two big guys, super strong, most likely tough as well, likely pounding the crap out of each other from wall to wall... do you really want to damage the merchandise? Or do you, maybe, want to answer a few of my questions, not get the snot beat out of you, and maybe still get to make a profit?"

All right. It mostly looks good. The outstanding issue at this time is that both Exorcism and Emotion Control will require saves to resist, so putting that at Rank 15 breaks caps. On Perception-range powers, the cap is your Power Level - which would be 10, for your PC.

Velak and Javeen held their hands up in the face of Ruby's blaster. "We...," Velak stammered, "we understand why you're upset. We know what all this means. We're trying to ease the transition, but we know what it means for you to be here. And what happens --" Javeen held up a hand as the song that seemed to draw Aquaria washed out over the crowd. The cliff was a good ways off from the field - it reminded Cavalier of photos he'd seen of Normandy - but the churning surf could be heard from here. And then, suddenly, there was a mountain in the abyss. The mountain was clad in metal - the same metal that held to Aquaria, only much larger, scarred by age, and bedecked with barnacles. It retracted with a sound like thunder, each slot pulling away to reveal the grand, weathered face of a Deep One matriarch. Aquaria knew it - she - was no Mother Hydra, but it was a damn slight close. She did not speak to the crowd. Rather, there was a pulse, infrasonic, that washed over the faithful and the apostate alike. For a second, Cavalier felt... smothered. Cold. Crushed on all sides. But still... safe. There had been a priestess on the Starforger who worshipped the Mother Void - space itself. She had a few tricks about her, too, gifts she claimed came from the Nurturing Dark. For the first time in a long time, Cavalier found himself in the comforting, lightless folds of the abyss. Then, the Dark Mother looked above Aquaria. Eyes the size of lakes locked upon her with a raptor's gaze. A voice like the shifting of the plates rang out. "Has it been... of course. It has. Greetings, child. To believe I was so new once..."

Yeah, I'll just say that succeeds.

Looks strong. The exotic saves could maybe use some beefing up, though - our house recommendation is that they average out to PL - 2. Also, if you want to, you could fold Astral Projection into your Array and save 19 PP.

Hello, macabreengel! I'm liking the concept. Then again, that may be the nostalgia of someone who played a Fey Pact Warlock in D&D4e. I see you've adjusted your powers for -5 ATT/+5 DMG. That can work. That said, your major damaging attack is +9 DMG on a +5 ATT. That may not be wise. If you want to make it more damaging, I might recommend taking a Flaw to make it Action (Full-Round), which would then free up more points to put into buying it up to +15 DMG. You also have Snare, which is nice for holding people down, but there's no real way to Grapple people and no Grapple modifier. Which means, if someone grabs you and holds on tight, you may be in trouble (unless, that is, you can Teleport out). Move Object might work as an alternate power, as it can be used for Grapple checks. It might also be good to note how Mind Shield affects your Will save, as each rank provides a +1 on Will saves that is subject to the normal limits on exotic saves. And since you have +5 WIS, +3 to Will, and +5 from Mind Shield, that would bust the caps for PL10. You also have a Defense of +6 and a Toughness of +9. Your stats don't reflect this; you have a TOU +0 listed under Saves. This is... not efficient for meeting caps.

"I have to admit," said Temperance, "it does sound quite mad." Last semester, Temperance had taken an elective in Abnormal Psychology to fulfill the social sciences requirement of her degree. One of the things she'd found while flipping through the DSM-5 was that people with pyromania would often exhibit a fascination with firefighting - the equipment, the process, and, of course, the actual fighting and extinguishing of flames. I doubt this town's crazy enough to have every pyromaniac in the area just join the FD at once, so... "I'm not sure everyone on the company would be compromised. We may be dealing with a few very ardent evangelists. Still." Temperance willed some water out of the river, which quickly reformed into her familiar ice barque. "The best way to find out is to go to their temple." --- The barque touched down several blocks from the firehouse, melting away into Temperance's pack. The house seemed quiet from the outside - the garage doors were down, and no one was clustered outside. "Would you like me to take the roof?" Temperance whispered to Aquaria. "I might be able to peer down from a skylight while you sneak in."

Tiffany Revenant: 1 = 1 PP [MAXED] Voin Zhenschina: 1 + 1 = 2 posts = 1 PP Triakosia: 1 + 2 GM posts = 1 PP + 1 rollover from Revenant = 2 PP Miss Grue: 2 + 1 = 3 posts = 1 PP Blodeuwedd: 1 = 1 PP Frostbyte: 1 = 1 PP